kick ass

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250777/

kick ass was the same movie as observe and report (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1197628/), in much the same way that snatch was the same as lock, stock, and two smoking barrels. and layer cake. and the other one that i can never remember. aside of the obvious plot parallels, the main thing both "kick ass" and "observe and report" had in common was a kind of darkness that lurked behind the scenes and bubbled up unexpectedly. i liked that, as a change of pace, but i hope it does not catch on because its main attraction is its fleetingness. you can only shock somebody so many times before they catch on. i guess you can tie them down and tape the probes on, too, but that usually does not happen in a movie theater kind of situation.

i am not sure what nicholas cage was doing in this film, but i was really happy to see him screaming as he burned alive. as for the "hit girl" character, foul-mouthed pre-teen kunoichis have never been cool. i wish people would stop making them. i can see the fascination--it is the same as when little abigail says "hi mrs marplebee! my daddy says you're fat and useless!"--but it is not a good kind of fascination. as for the main character, i can not really think of anything i want to call out about him, other than the absolute preposterousness of the idea that he would hook up with a girl.

with all that said, i enjoyed the overall film. it was comic book enough that i could overlook the absurdity, laugh at the jokes, and just sort of go along for the ride.